The lives of past saints can be very inspiring, so reading biographies is a thrill. Whether we are reading about a recent saint, like Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and their partners killed trying to reach a stone age tribe, or those of the early church like Polycarp or Ignatius, we are inspired to handle adversity, to stand against persecution and to sacrifice all in service to our King. The danger comes when we take these stories that should empower and unfairly condemn ourselves, seeing these people as more endowed or having more of the Spirit, greater potential or ability than us. One example is Paul. What church planter has not looked at Paul planting churches, over an area of several hundred miles from diverse cultural and linguistic groups, and concluded that he was a sort of Über-Christian—fascinating but impossible to emulate? Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine, spending only three weeks in a city, before being driven out, but seeing a successful, persecution-resistant church planted. Paul was very successful, but we must resist the temptation to think that his success is beyond our reach. He was not magically endowed with the ability to plant churches. Yes, God called and equipped him to this ministry, but all of us are capable of similar success in our own callings. You may not have the same calling as Paul, but you can have the success that he had, if you will conduct your ministry as he did. In 1 Thessalonians 2 he gives us the ingredients of his ministry; I like to call it his Formula for Successful Service: Courage, Motivation, Self-sacrifice and Imitability. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part IV

In a world that assumes women’s presence in every endeavor, it seems backwards and hateful to restrict women from certain roles. In this fight, like all others, Christians must following scripture not the dictates of society. As we consider the qualifications of leaders in the church we must examine what scripture says about all areas, including those that are unpopular. Whether we limit leadership of the church to one gender or open it to both, we must have good strong biblical evidence for our view. Read the rest of this entry »

Qualifications of Elders: Part III

With record low job approval ratings worldwide, we expect little good from our national leaders. Even in the church, bad leadership seems more the rule than the exception. Just like other problems faced by the church, the Bible has the solution. If the people of Christ would hold our leaders to the qualifications given in scripture we could transform the church overnight. Read the rest of this entry »